A development application has been submitted for the first phase of the Oakridge Centre redevelopment, for which the overall development plan was approved earlier this year. 

The first phase will consist of two towers (Towers 3 and 4), and a portion of the future park. Details include:

• one 32-storey tower (Building 3) and one 42-storey tower (Building 4)
• 504 market condo units;
• 212 one-bedrooms, 260 two-bedrooms & 32 three-bedroom units;
• a podium containing retail/office Uses (Levels P1 – 6);
• 173,113 SF of office space in Building 3;
• all over three levels of underground parking;
• a portion of the future 9-acre Park;
• a total density of 0.74 FSR;
• a maximum geodetic building height of 189.38 m for Building 3, and 217.28 m for Building 4.

The application describes the design rationale: 

“Skin & Bones Concept
The metaphor of skin and bone is the ordering principle for the Architectural Tectonic. It is born from the idea of draping the Mall with a landscaped Park. The act of wrapping or revealing becomes architecturally significant when defining the relationship between the landscape and buildings, as an approach to breakdown the mass of the buildings, as a passive solar strategy to have the buildings respond to their environment, and for providing wayfinding and programmatic identity.

Skin as Veil
Expanding upon the skin & bones concept, the skin is treated like a fine light fabric that wraps the buildings in a unifying veil. It is both delicate and protective, and is expressed architecturally as a plane of Curtain Wall that extends past the building itself in vertical and horizontal fly-bys. The Curtain wall design is reduced to its essence of transparent glass using 4 sided SSG, grey sealant and gaskets, light colored shadow boxes and only horizontal spandrel. The extent of the wrapping of the veil is related to the buildings orientation, as the veil opens toward the light, allowing the deep recessed terracing of the bones to shade the spaces within.”

The architect for the project is Henriquez Partners Architecture.

A rezoning application has been submitted for a 25,265 SF site at 1102-1138 East Georgia Street in East Vancouver, which is currently improved with four older lowrise industrial buildings. The site is currently zoned I-2 Industrial, but the area falls within the Downtown Eastside Community Plan, allowing a mix of uses, including residential. Allowable density in the neighbourhood has been identified for up to 2.50 FSR for mixed-use proposals in the I-2 zone through a rezoning.

The proposal is for a 4-storey mixed-use family-oriented development, including:

• • 37 residential units (20% are social housing);
  • 2 studios, 4 one-bedrooms, 1 two-bedroom & 30 three-bedrooms;
  • a total density of 2.50 FSR; and
  • 16,145 of creative/production/retail space on the ground floor.

The application describes the design rationale: “The proposed development massing steps down from the western edge of the site at the intersection of Glen and East Georgia towards the adjacent RT-3 zoned homes to the east, providing an appropriate transition in scale in the context of the neighbourhood. The massing is in keeping with the eclectic mixed-use community of Kiwassa East and through this form enhances the diversity of housing and commercial opportunities.”

The housing partner for the project is ANHART Foundation.

This application is being considered under the Downtown Eastside Community Plan.

The architect for the project is Ekistics Architecture.

Strand Development has submitted a rezoning application for an assembly of five single family lots totaling 32,198 SF on Fraser Street between East 22nd and East 23rd Avenues in East Vancouver.

The site at 686 East 22nd Avenue, 3811-3833 Fraser Street & 679 East 23rd Avenue is currently zoned RT-2. The rezoning proposal consists of a 6-storey mixed-use building and includes:

• 121 market rental units;
• 10 studios, 60 one-bedrooms, 35 two-bedrooms & 16 three/four-bedrooms;
• 10,818 SF of retail space at grade;
• a density of 3.28 FSR;
• a building height of 71 ft.;
• two levels of underground parking with 108 parking spaces; and
• 159 bicycle spaces.

The application is being considered under the Affordable Housing Choices Interim Rezoning Policy.

The architect for the project is Integra Architecture.

A rezoning application for a 2,752 SF site at the corner of Carrie Cates Court and Lonsdale, directly across the street from Lonsdale Quay. 1 Lonsdale Avenue is currently occupied by an italian restaurant, Gusto Di Quattro. The site has been owned by the Babalos family since 1941 and they are the developers. 

The application seeks to amend a previous CD zoning to support a new 3-storey passive house commercial building that would consist of a ground floor restaurant and two levels of office space above. Due to the site’s small size, off-street parking is not possible and the applicant is requesting a waiver.

Details of the proposal include:

• a total floor area of 6,963 SF;
• 2,159 SF of restaurant space;
• 4,804 SF of office space;
• a density of 2.53 FSR;
• a building height of 39 feet.

The architect for the project is John Hemsworth.

Reliance Properties has submitted a development permit application to the City of Vancouver for permission to develop “Tower C” at Burrard Place. The first two towers included a 55-storey residential tower with 444 units, sold out in 2016, and a 130,000 SF office tower on Burrard. The third tower is located mid-block on Hornby Street, at 1261 Hornby. 

The plan for the third tower includes a 35 storey mixed
use building, including the following:

• 206 condo units;
  • 105 one-bedrooms, 100 two-bedrooms and one three-bedroom;
• 27 market rental units;
  • 16 studios and 11 one bedrooms;
• 5,120 SF of retail;
• 40,252 SF of office;
• A building height of 368 ft;
• 9 levels of underground parking accessed from the lane with a total 375 parking spaces.

The application describes the design rationale: “Like most towers in Vancouver, Tower C’s massing is heavily shaped by zoning conditions, which in this case produces a simple volume with a nearly square plan of 36 stories. Our approach to the image of the building therefore has been influenced by this simple prismatic quality and by the fact that the neighboring towers are lighter in overall color and tone. To this end, we have developed a kind of supergrid of “modules”, here articulated by dark gray metals
against low iron glazing, that reads distinctly different than the lighter grids of Tower A and the punched white brick façade of Tower D.

Like cells in an analogue film strip, these modules track up the building in four bays, each slipping past one another, suggesting motion and revealing the “action” within each module. This composition plays in elevation with the symmetry of the typical floor plan through the interlocking material logic of clear / silver glazing systems and the gray metal panel system. To further refine this supergrid, black ceramic frit is used as a kind of graphic tailoring that includes radiused and thickened corners.”

The architects for the project are Neil Denari and IBI Group.